Tori Types Thoughts
Tori's very average blog
This is my heart
Singing to you In colors of teal, brown, and blue These are my hands Touching the ground, Up to the walls, up to the down This is my mind Picturing that This there which – where’s the fucking cat Listening deep to the sounds of this house The breathing AV -The grumbling walls The ants in the boards continue their toil I’m leaving things here, as best as they be The concept of home is coming with me The title of this looong blog is inspired by the the amazing Malala Yousafzai. “One child, one teacher, one pen, and one book can change the world” -Malala Yousafzai I have some announcements, thoughts, admissions, and hopes! One ChildI am entwined with a story - a story about a little boy with a HUGE dream. This child became my husband. I'm being vague so SEO won't associate him with all of the sappy love I'm about to pour out, but if you know me you know that my husband has fought against all odds to attain his dreams in the NFL. Ever since he was 2 years old, he knew he wanted to be a part of football: since that time he's published books, worked in the media, and made some incredible friends along the way. During the pandemic, he went from being a beloved "football outsider" to an "insider" and began his journey working directly for teams. On Monday the 21st he got a call that he would be working with some of his greatest allies...and some of the most fabulous football minds out there.
One TeacherAfter the experience that was 2020, I witnessed both incredible feats of human resilience and instances where man has come up short. Working for Big Brothers Big Sisters and on the Advisory Board for Jesse Tree, a non profit that prevents homelessness in the Treasure Valley, I had a front row seat to a lot of stuff. I have heard horror stories from my coworkers working directly with children and families during this time. I just can't believe that so many vibrant children, filled with potential, want to die. A recent news briefing from the Kaiser Family Foundation shared these conclusions (click here for the source on this one)
There is talk about classifying the pandemic as an Adverse Childhood Experience or ACEs (click for some reading). With my work at Big Brothers Big Sisters, I know that the predominant way to reverse the ill effects of ACEs within youths are strong and healthy mentoring relationships (more reading for the click happy). After delving into several trainings like QPR and Mental Health First Aid, and from my lived experience as someone with ACEs who had to figure out things as I went along, I decided that the most important thing I could do to help and heal my community was to take Myra Krien's Pomegranate SEEDs teacher training. Honestly, SEEDs perfectly combines so many incredible tools. I've included a link for your information that details all of the incredible qualities of this program for young people. Myra has lovingly created an experience with the Pomegranate SEEDs training. For long time readers of my blog, you've seen me gush about the generous and talented human being that is Myra Krein. Needless to say, I had high expectations for the training and the 5-day event totally left my imagination in the dust. The training itself is a flash of what the young people who partake in the SEEDs program will experience, but I invite you to understand that it is not a mere intensive. This sort of work is personal and requires an extraordinary amount of skill and tact to manifest results in the SEEDs program... let alone in a week with adults who will potentially teach it. The fact that Myra customizes the experience of the teacher training to those in the room and guided us through charged and powerful topics is a testament to the depths of her knowledge and compassion. I laughed, I cried (embarrassingly quickly I might add), I made new friends and gained skills that will help me in my career and as a person who wants to make a positive impact for young people in my community. I will say anything to make you believe that this program works - it is a cure we so desperately need. I am so grateful that it exists. Here are some highlights - aka pictures of me with my friends. Considering my pending move, my plans to assist Starbelly with bringing SEEDs back into the Treasure Valley are a bit loosie goosy (Cecilia used to administer it until circumstances prevented her from continuing). I will offer my expertise and heart to Cecilia, Cassandra and Bayla, but my personal foray into the program itself is to be determined... However, I know that I will as quickly as possible implement all of the incredible tools I have gathered over the training. I can hardly freaking wait. One PenIn order to keep contact with all of you, I decided to start and try and maintain an Instagram. I have a LOT of content but what I really want to do is keep a line open to my friends all over as well as become better friends with people in my new city. Right now my handle is @toritori.bobori (banana fanna fo fori). I'm not trying to needlessly gain followers, but if you're on this blog or seeing this message - odds are I want to stay in touch with you somehow. Add me or something? I'll add you back? WHAT ARE THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT? One Book
PS: This section was also going to be a long section but this blog post is already unreal. Enjoy the book, class. Other AnnoucementsI mentioned it before but I'll mention it again, please keep your calendar wide open for the up and coming Starbelly Folkloric Celebration!
More info coming soon, but check out the facebook event by [[clicking here]]! Who gets the reference? Here is a hint - I just reread the anime post from Cassandra and this was the opening song from a show featuring a famous electric rodent. :-) As out dated as that tune is, I still relate to Ash Ketchum. Instead of pocket monsters, I am catching trainings. This month the vast majority of the Starbelly Dancers are headed to Santa Fe to take part in the SEEDs training held by the fabulously talented and generous human being Myra Krien (link). Referring to previous blog posts about healing the world through dance, taking a part of this training is a part of this mission. Young people are suffering and through COVID, mental health in young people has deteriorated to dangerous levels. Bringing the SEEDs program back to the Treasure Valley will make a huge impact for young women - a population particularly at risk for depression, suicide, and other tragic outcomes. Another training I am looking forward to is the Home Edition II training (link) from the Limon Dance Company. I have long admired Limon style Modern Dance and after this training, which will also focus on inclusive language in the classroom, I will be able to use many of the principals and philosophies from this dance style to create dance training and ensure the spaces I create are equitable. I'm also eager to brush up on my modern technique! Limon not lemon guys. Another fun way I'm enriching my life (AKA spending all my money) is that I'm headed into my second year of my MFA program! I can't even begin to describe how incredible this experience has been for me. From the first day I could already feel myself becoming a better artist, a wiser dancer, and a more thoughtful person. I believe the fruits of my labors will be on display soon in the Big Badass Belly dance Show 2022 edition: The House of Secrets. More to come guys. A few years ago I wrote a post about "what is fusion dance" and I still stand by much of what I said, though I do believe that I have evolved more since then. In an effort to truly "fuse" dance forms I believe that fusion or transnational artists need to always be students and continue to hone their skills within all of the modalities of dance they find themselves in... and then add a few more. Mostly because it is FUN.
Last month I took my first modern dance class in 15 years - while I have continued to practice modern dance and study it's history and take a small part in today's modern/post-modern dance culture, the body I found myself in during class was intriguing. Dancers of all genres and practices NEED to put their bodies into different contexts - it is amazing to dance the steps from other cultures/dance cultures and to understand the hearts of your fellow artists. I also had the opportunity to take a Butoh class through BellyQueen. Um - amazing?!? Perhaps everything comes back around to my secret otaku identity. Is there a job where I can just learn dances forever? Is that the job I'm doing right now? Am I the luckiest person on the planet? Yes. Anime and manga are highly important in my life – as a young person I did not find many reprieves from the trial and tribulations of my youth until the fateful day I tuned into Toonami on Cartoon Network and was introduced to Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. Thursday nights became my oasis from bullying and the strict schedule maintained by a young, pre-professional ballet dancer. Usagi (pictued), Goku, and all their friends set my imagination ablaze and firmed my love of this genre for all of eternity. I still look to anime and manga in my daily life as one of the only hobbies I can maintain juggling my life as a dance artist, a graduate student, and a non-profit professional. Isekai is my guilty pleasure and I have become a tea connoisseur thanks to 50 Tea Recipes from the Duchess. This form of media and entertainment has only enriched my days and the days of my fellow weebs. Through my lens as both a dance professional and my job in a non-profit that provides children with mentors, I have witnessed the impact that meaningful connections (or lack thereof) have on individuals of all ages. I believe that entertainment media is an incredible tool during hard times, not in the form of escape but in the form of inspiration. I have witnessed how manga, anime, webtoons, and print comics soothe people and bring them together at a meaningful level. Just the other day I observed a young person who calls herself painfully shy, become vibrant during a conversation about Demon Slayer – I also think that she was surprised that an “adult” shares her interests. Queen of the Weebs - Guest Post from CassandraAs the weather gets hotter and more consistently sunny, I am seeing more and more people eagerly emerging from their homes and spending as much time outside as they can. While Idahoans are still adjusting to the post-COVID-vaccine landscape, and masks are becoming less integral to public safety in outdoor spaces, I'm seeing more people rocking their anime T-shirts or sporting merch from their favorite streamers/YouTubers/content creators as they carry on with their day-to-day endeavors. It's this time of year that brings out some of my favorite types of people: my fellow weebs. Like many subcultures, the anime/manga-loving community has developed its own slang words to describe its members. "Weeb" is loosely defined as someone who is interested in Japan and Japan-produced content, such as anime, manga, music, etc. While these individuals, like myself, are not die-hards who are determined to completely assimilate into Japanese culture and eat, sleep and breathe Japanese content (individuals that have this mindset within the community are commonly known by the derogatory term "weeaboo"), our prevailing interests in anime/manga/etc. can often make it difficult for us to find common interests with the everyday citizen. It is due to this lack of common interests that many weebs are considered social outcasts, which can often--especially in youths--lead to stunted social skills. It is due to this exclusion in many social settings that many weebs hide their love for anime/manga/etc. and only make sly, subtle references to their hobbies in social settings as though fishing to see if anyone else in their social group will latch onto the bait. Tori King and I became fast friends when we realized we had a lot more than dance in common--we both are weebs! Back to the point, what does summer have to do with weebs? Anime conventions, my friend! And what is one of the best things about anime conventions you may ask? Cosplay! Cosplay is its own type of performance art in which individuals dress up as a character from any form of media, most popularly anime, manga, or videogames. That's not to say you won't also spot cosplayers representing popular characters from books--there's an entire world of book-related cosplay as well! Cosplayers go all-out as summer anime conventions abound throughout the United States, paying homage to their beloved characters in animes, movies, and even video games with amazing technical skill and creative ingenuity. All body types, all genders, all ages are represented in this simplistic hobby of embodying a single character that means so much to so many avid fans of a series. This is a hugely important and meaningful aspect of weeb culture for many reasons, but to draw on the point I made earlier, it's the best place for weebs to be able to network and socialize with other people that have the same interests and hobbies! Yay for the development of social skills! While I myself have never cosplayed anime characters (only original characters I've made for festivals) I marvel at the sheer dedication and skill so many cosplayers practice and perfect in their representation of a single (or multiple) character. I find myself inspired to also embody some of my favorite animated characters in ways I haven't seen before--through fusion belly dance! There have been some absolutely iconic anime/manga characters in my life that I feel would be thrilling to breathe some fusion belly dance into, especially with a partner in crime like fellow weeb Tori King. As many fans of the community know, K-pop (Korean Pop) and J-pop (Japanese Pop) are immensely popular dance and choreography styles in animes, mangas, and even live-action dramas. Even people who have no interest in anime or manga have had some level of exposure to K-pop dance thanks to viral hits like GANGNAM STYLE by artists like PSY. As any TikTok-er can tell you, there are a million different trends of any style of dance, some of which can truly lend to emoting comedy, tragedy, or joy in dance. Incorporating elements of K-pop into any style of dance sounds thrilling, but belly dance especially sounds fun because there is already some overlap with tricky muscle isolation, articulation, facial emoting, and overall grace & fluidity! While it's easy for me to make a very long list of my favorite anime/manga characters I feel deserve some live-action time in the limelight, more than anything I would love to choose a pair of characters that line up with Tori and I's own personalities and even movement styles. While we definitely have a million ideas, and we're not at all restricted on the amount of anime-related duets we can release, it can be difficult to nail downtime to workshop and choreograph something that only a very specific community would appreciate. In between working on Starbelly projects, Tori and I are determined to create an otaku duet together for the laughs, the weeb pride, and the thrill of being able to highlight some of our favorite characters on a stage in true DBZ fusion style as professional performing artists! My fellow weebs, I ask you now: do you have any characters in mind that you think we'd rock? Promo TimeYou can catch the Starbelly Student Salon until May 30th on demand, which features a choreography with the Starbelly Dancers. Also, Myra Kreins annual show, Invaders of the Heart, is entitled Epoch. The Starbelly Dancers will have a short set in this incredible show, which I highly encourage you to watch! I'll be watching as a fan of Mosaic and my Starbelly fam! Click the links below to get the deets on these wonderful shows.
THANK YOU FROM MY BUGGY HEART!
THESE BUGS WILL NEVER DIE -- BUG SHOW ON DEMAND!
On March 13th Starbelly brought you into the wonderful world of BUGS. The reviews are in and, by popular request, we are thrilled to announce that we are placing the show On Demand. All proceeds of this show will continue to go to the Starbelly Financial Aid Fund!
Here are some of the rave reviews: "[Starbelly is] forging ahead to new horizons." Tamalyn Dallal, Oriental Dance teacher, writer and film maker "I have never seen anything so creatively brilliant by any artist in any genre...My heart is still thumping!" Gloria Skurzynski, Award Winning Author of 64 published books for young readers and young adults.
Not convinced? We think our final review from cultural anthropologist, Erik Messel
"The Bug Show is by far the most creative performance of its kind that I have experienced. As is true for all StarBelly performances, the costumes are gorgeous, the choreography is masterful, and the dancers are magnificent. This show, however, is something altogether different. Framed by a pleasantly haunting voice-over of some renowned naturalist, the audience is seduced into a psychedelic rite of passage through the pages of a 19th century entomological tome. Each piece begins with a hand-drawn fact sheet on a particular bug, complete with the Latin name and tagged with, “but did you know that…” That’s right, the show is also educational! The choreography and costume is true to each species, which really sets the performances apart. This dedication to the subject deeply impacts the dance. The movements associated with the dance styles morph as they take on the characteristics of each creature producing this fantastical space between the natural and the cultural. The video production and editing for the show makes that space transcendent. The use of green screen, layered shots, hand-drawn backgrounds and filters captures a wild and alien world of bugs. Set to an eclectic collection of traditional and experimental songs, the experience is truly otherworldly. It is like eating a handful of shrooms and randomly opening to a page in an entomologist’s field notes. I felt deeply engaged in each moment and at the same time, excited to flip the page to see what far-out, magical creature comes next. Mesmerizing is how I would describe the experience. If you haven’t seen it, see it, because you won’t have seen anything like it." Erik Messal, Med, Educational Consultant & Curriculum Supervisor View the Bug Show On Demand Today!
The Starbelly Dancers are thrilled to announce the 11th annual Big Bad-Ass Belly Dance Show: The Bug Show! This star(belly) studded line up of artists will be presented as a virtual spectacular.
What do our smallest friends do when we're not watching? How do the creepy crawly critters of the planet share their stories? Through dance, of course! Join us as we embody our buggy friends and share their joy, sorrow, and slime. Tickets HERE! https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/48058 The Bug Show will star the 2021 Starbelly Dancers, based in Boise, Idaho Cecilia and Chad Rinn Tori King Bayla Night Cassandra Joan Featuring Starbelly Soloists Alyssa Kimm of Portland, OR Amanda Nicole of Boise, ID And our Superstar guests Phoenix of Denver, CO Kaeshi Chai of New York, NY Myra Krien and Mosaic Dance Company of Santa Fe, NM As always, this show will act as a fundraiser for Starbelly School of Dance scholarship program. It's here it's here and it's totally buggy! Sometimes offhanded comments like, "What if we were a girl band?" or "Wouldn't it be cool to just be bugs for a minute?" manifest into art! The Bug Show will be spectacular, virtual, and feature friends from all over the globe. We have commissioned music, we are creating costumes, we are collaborating with world renown dance artists, and we are having an insanely insectually good time. That is a word. Click on the link below for the full updates, as we launch them... and see you on March 13th! Thank you for attending my workshopfundraiser!I cannot reiterate enough how flattered and loved I feel from you guys joining me to talk about makeup. It is very personal to me and I certainly hope I shared some helpful tips and tricks! I am not some fancy pants teacher from timbuktu - if you have follow up questions or would like any extra help, remember that I am your ~friend~ and only a dm/text away. Much love to you all who stayed for the TWO HOUR EXPERIENCE. who am I kidding, I knew it wouldn't be only one hour. Love love love. The workshop recording is available - please email me at torikingdancing-at-gmail.com for the link. HALP: Can you write me a testimonial?
What is SEEDs Teacher Training? Click here to find out more! I feel that now, more than ever, that the world needs to heal through the arts and getting this credential will allow me to be a part of this movement! A Beautiful Valentines Day ShowThis promo text was ruthlessly copy/pasted by yours truly. Click on the image to go to the facebook event. We have some lovely number planned and I hope to see you there, love bugs! Join us for one of our most popular performances of the year, our Valentine's show! This year is very special because we will be dancing in front of exquisite paintings by the incredible Antony Corso! We are also so excited to feature special guests Cecilia Rinn's Starbelly Dancers of Boise, ID and Teresa Tomb's Rakadu Dance Theatre of Mecca Dance Studio from Lexington, KY!
Enjoy a virtual evening of bellydance, poetry and art! Don't have a date? Let US be your Valentines this year! Ticket sales support our studio and our Pomegranate SEEDs® (Self-Esteem, Empowerment, and Education through Dance) Youth Mentorship Program. Spread the love, empower the arts, and enjoy a beautiful performance! Tickets on sale now! Purchase tickets and get your Zoom link here: https://tixoom.app/pomegranatestudios/hlxtunbv Pomegranate Studios Presents Valentine's Day: A Show of Love Saturday, February 13th 7:00pm MT On Zoom Tickets: $15 each Fall in love... with the dance Thoughts about January 6thI'm not someone for new years resolutions - I don't believe that a number change signifies a grand cosmic shift or the start of be destroying my bad habits. Achieving goals, creating change, and evolving into your greatest self are efforts that take time - is a year enough? Is a year too much? I try to be in the moment and do my best - but I won't lie that I was excited to at least symbolically bury the trials and tribulations of 2020 and take a fresh breath. It didn't last long. I can't be poetic about how deeply distraught I am because of the storming of the capital on January 6th. There are many levels to the "wrongness" of the events, starting from the struggle of American society to take care of it's people. All it's people. I think about this so I have a chance to empathize - I will never understand what train of thought occurred to the mob of rioters to allow them to perform a disturbing act of insurrection in the name of patriotism. Smarter people have said smarter things at this point, but I just want to share my emotions: The image of the confederate flag in the house of congress will haunt me until my dying day. So here I am, about to make a resolution. This year may be the start of it, but I see the goal of this lasting until I die. I WILL do my part to take care of people - to create some breathing room for people to deescalate radical actions, to open up hard discussions, to heal from violence and trauma, and to learn how to work together. This is vague, but I am vague. This is small, but I am small. This is difficult, but I am difficult. So why am I putting this into my blog about my dance thoughts and adventures? Well it's simple. I'm going to do all this through dance. More to come. Workshop - Comin' Atcha!
There is no "one size fits all" way to apply your performance makeup. Are you dancing indoors or outdoors? What sort of lighting will you have? What is your skin type and undertone? How far away is the audience? What do you even LIKE? In this hour long, virtual workshop, Tori will offer her advice on performance makeup specifically for video performance (because that's what we're doing now) and close proximity, in-person performance (because that WILL come back someday). The biggest value of this workshop is that you will be able to ask your questions to Tori in real-time and talk in depth about your needs as a performer. This ain't your 2000s YouTube tutorial: bring questions, bring your make-up for Tori to look at if you want, and bring your enthusiasm because this is sure to be a fun workshop! --- Payment and Meeting Details: This sliding scale workshop is a fundraiser for Starbelly's annual production of "The Big Bad-Ass Belly Dance Show." All proceeds for this workshop will directly go towards the production of this dance event. This workshop is the first offering in our fundraising series for this show! Sliding Scale Payment Options: $15 USD - $30 USD - $45 USD Please use the following methods to pay Starbelly School of Dance: • Venmo- “Cecilia Rinn @Starbelly (preferred) • PayPal payments: starbellyschoolofdance@gmail.com • Facebook @Cecilia Rinn • Credit & Debit Cards online at https://bit.ly/3bIRzWt or over the phone 208-891-6609 Once you have paid you will receive a confirmation email. The workshop link will go out 15 minutes before the event and will be over zoom. Please be sure to check your spam or junk file just in case your invitation lands there! If you cannot attend live, this workshop will be recorded for your convenience. If you have a makeup question you'd like to submit in advance, please email Tori at torikingdancing@gmail.com. Please DM the Starbelly Dancers with all other inquiries. The event will occur at 1pm MST and last until 2:00PM MST on Saturday, January 23rd 2021. New Video in my GalleryThere should be a few more coming your way soon - perhaps even my Mozart Medusa choreography en pointe? Haha, for now enjoy this piece from The Art of Belly Dance. My hiking fusion piece will be up soon and I have also posted the incredibly special group piece with music by Matthew Voorhees. Grateful for SO MANY things - a totally unpoetic list in no order
I am also grateful for you. Thank you for joining me as we traverse this journey. I promised a better blog and while I am sorrowful at this disappointment, I am still so grateful for this mode of communication and that you are listening to me. Thank you thank you thank you. A special thank you!Thank you to the Idaho Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts for providing funding to me and other artists in Idaho through the CARES Act. Thanks to your help, the Treasure Valley will continue to create beautiful and inspiring art. I am beyond grateful for this funding during these important and uncertain times! TONIGHT!!!
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AuthorTori King is a belly dance artist, culture enthusiast and general weirdo. Is this a good biography? Do you like me yet? :-) Archives
April 2024
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